


Wartime Expediency

by Mongol



Category: Girls und Panzer
Genre: Drug Use, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-07 23:17:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7733686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mongol/pseuds/Mongol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes coffee isn't enough when marching through the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wartime Expediency

**Author's Note:**

> Gave this a fairly high rating because of certain reasons, but it's all nice and cute otherwise.

It's not candy. Aki is sure of that.

Mika is a bit of a glutton and it wouldn't be the first time she's swiped a little bit extra to herself. Aki and Mikko don't really mind. She's their senior and they owe much to her, so a few extra potatoes here and there can be overlooked.

Aki trudges forwards. The branches swipe against her face and the weight on her backpack makes her boots sink deep into the wet moss. The boots are too large for her, but with rags wrapped around her tiny feet they're bearable.

Mika clears the path ahead of them. She ducks underneath the taller branches that are high enough for Aki to not even pay attention to, but when Aki hears to sound of pine needles brushing against Mika's chest she knows to raise her arm in front of her face. She watches intently as Mika leads the way and tucks into her pocket, taking small white tablets in her hand and slips them in her mouth.

The empty metal tube falls to the moss, almost disappearing out of sight in the dim light of the woods, but Aki sees it roll and reaches to pick it up.

She turns it between her fingers and sees the text on it. _Pervitin_.

”Aki?”

Startled, Aki lifts her gaze just in time to get a face full of pine needles. ”Eaah!”

”You should always keep your eyes open, Aki.” Mika stops and turns to look back at Aki. Her face is wet with the light rain, but her smile is as calm and happy as ever. ”It's important to look forward in life.”

”I had my eyes open, Mika.” Aki groans. ”I just had to pick up something.”

”The empty package I dropped?”

”So you did that on purpose, Mika!”

”What?”

”When you dropped that… nnnnh! Forget it!”

”Aki, if you want these, just ask.” Mika holds out another metal tube just like the first.

”What is it anyway? I've never heard of candy called Pervitin before. Where did you find it?”

”The Kuromorimine girls gave us some after our match.”

”Really? That's so kind of them! Giving us a tank and all the supplies we need.”

”Senshado is the best way to get what you need in life.” Mika muses.

”But Mika, did we really have to go marching through the woods? It would be so much easier to march back on the road.”

”Is having a ready path really that important? Just like in Senshado, we sometimes need to make our own paths in life.”

”It would've been nice to march on the road. Pravda wouldn't have minded. They gave us all this food. Pelmeni, cabbage, even some sausages. Mikko got that new radiator she needed.”

”Just like the lessons and joy of Senshado, the material necessities of it are shared as well.”

”But what is this candy? Is it tasty?”

”Huuh?” Mikko rushes from behind to catch up to the girls. She ducks underneath the brach and hurries to look at the package Aki holds in her hands. ”Hey Mika, you've got candy? I want some too!”

”You will get yours when we make camp.”

”Mika ate something again? Hey!” Mikko stomped her foot. ”I'm keeping the pelmeni! You're not seeing any of them until we've shared the sausages.”

Aki brushes the sweat off her brow. The sun is already low and they've been marching all day. They make camp and begin to divide their supplies again. A thorough inspection of Mika's backpack reveals a chocolate bar that Aki divides up before Mikko has a chance to gobble them up herself. Mika might be a glutton, but even a glutton deserves the presumption of innocence.

The wet branches crackle and fizz, creating more smoke than heat. It takes time to get the fire going and the girls wait with grumbling stomachs. Finally, the water boils in the blackened and dented kettle and Aki pours the sack of pelmeni in. Mikko divides up the meal into their mess kits.

Aki fishes up a dumpling from her kit and bites down eagerly. The filling is fatty and rich.

”Mmm, the Pravda girls really do eat well. I wonder where they get all the meat. Mika, is something wrong?”

Mika eats slowly, not in her usual manner of chomping down that has made her so tall and able to fill out the school uniform. ”It's important to savor our food.”

”Well that never stopped you before, Mika!” Mikko chimes in. She wolfs down her meal, afraid that Mika's newfound appreciation bodes for worse things to come.

Mika doesn't try to steal an extra bite. Aki and Mikko watch her intently, feeling their concern build up. When they split the chocolate bar between them and Mika doesn't ask for her share, the girls are truly worried.

”You sure you don't want any, Mika? What's gotten you so happy and satisfied?”

”Try it, Aki.” She holds out the metal tube to the girls. Aki rolls it between her fingers and inspects the etiquette. It's the same as the one Mika dropped before. She unscrews the metal cap and drobs a round tablet onto her tiny palm. It's the size of her thumb, maybe even a bit larger. She slips it into her mouth and hands the tube to Mikko.

The tent is raised in mere minutes. Instead of their usual desire to be able to sleep, the girls are motived by another force, something clear and focused, keen and bright like moonlight on a still backwoods lake.

In the nights of late summer, it is warm enough without a sleeping bag. The girls are tucked into the small tent and shift around to find their places.

Aki fidgets around restlessly, unable to find a place to lay down. It's not rocks or branches on the ground poking against her back that stop her. She's not sure what it is. ”Mika, I can't sleep,” she mutters.

”Me neither,” says Mikko.

”Is sleep really all that important?”

For the first time ever, Mika's ramblings make perfect sense to Aki. ”Well, I'm not tired but… could you play something?”

”Polka?”

”Just something.”

Mika begins to pluck the strings of the kantele. The sun dips underneath the horizon. High far up in the north it descends and rises slowly, moving almost sideways. The twilight lasts long, longer than the brief period of darkness. The girls listen to Mika play tunes they're not familiar with. The tempo is high, the sound sharp.

The sun is slowly coming up. Soon the rays will pass between the trees and light up the mist.

Aki squints her eyes. ”Oh… it's already morning.”

”Coffee, anyone?” Mikko breaks out the pot. She's already pouring water before Aki and Mika nod in response.

They drink their coffee in silence, fidgeting and eager to be on their way. Soon they start marching again and for once Mika shares her loot without issue. Three girls march onwards for three days without sleep until they finally cross over from Pravda's grounds.


End file.
